The fundamental difference between feature writing and story writing is that each type of news article has a different editorial perspective. Journalists write feature stories on people and issues for newspapers and magazines, whereas story writing is about reporting on current news stories concerning incidents that have occurred locally, nationally or worldwide.
News stories make headline news. They are based on current events, are time sensitive and written and published soon after an incident has occurred. Hard news stories keep the reader or TV viewer updated with recent updates of significant events. Such stories are prioritized according to importance and social impact. Soft stories about entertainment or features are not considered time-sensitive news because they are issue-based and contain non-urgent content.
The focus of a feature story has an angle and is based on a specific issue about politics, religion, celebrity, society or human interest. Often a single person of interest is interviewed to provide content for the story. The content of a news story, however, is more often a response to something that has just occurred. It could be about any dramatic event such as a scandal, crime or disaster, or it could be something as mundane as a committee meeting or a fund-raising event.
The journalistic writing style is about writing succinct, crisp and factual copy to grab the attention of the reader, whether it is for a news story or a feature. However, with a news story the journalist will write a brief and direct news summary chronicling the information concerning an event that has just occurred and detailing the who, what, when, where and why of the incident. A features writer will sometimes write a longer article that is more narrative in style. The writer often will color the story with more dialogue and personality.